LOS ANGELES—The USC football team relieved Lane Kiffen as head coach on Sunday, September 29, following the team’s defeat to
ArizonaState in
Tempe,
Arizona.

Athletic Director Pat Haden addressed the media later that day on his abrupt firing of Kiffin, who had coached the team since 2010. According to the USC Trojan Athletics website, coverage of Haden’s speech, he asked Lane Kiffin to meet him once he landed back in
Los Angeles. Haden met with Kiffin at 3 a.m. for 45 minutes in a private room at the airport where he asked Kiffin to resign as head coach.

“My job is to do what's best for USC and this decision is best for USC,” Haden is quoted as saying on the team’s website. “At the end of the day it became a gut feeling. It's never the perfect time to do these things, but I thought it was the right time,” he said.

The team had just returned to
California from losing 62-41 to the Arizona State Sun Devils, making the Trojans 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Pac-12 Conference.

Thirty-eight-year-old Kiffin led the Trojans to a 28-15 record over the past three years, losing seven of their last 11 games. It is the team’s worst losing-streak since 2001, according to ESPN statistics. To Kiffin’s disadvantage, it was during his tenure as head coach that the NCAA placed severe sanctions on USC football, making it difficult for the team to recruit star athletes on scholarship.

Coach Orgeron speaking at news conference.

Pat Haden announced recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach, Ed Orgeron, as the interim head football coach during the Sunday news conference, according to the team’s website and social media.

The Trojans’ coverage of the news conference quotes Orgeron as stating, “I want to thank Pat Haden for trusting me. We had a team meeting and came out of it with a positive vibe. We made a commitment to give it all we've got. We have already spoken to our recruits about what is going on and we expect to have a great recruiting class.”

The Trojans have a bye this week to incorporate the new changes and play against the Arizona Wildcats Thursday, October 10, at home.